Unforgotten Melody
by JustArisu
Summary: Mitchie hasn’t sung since Tess stole her song for Final Jam. 3 years later she’s accidentally put in a voice class. As if that isn’t enough, a certain old acquaintance is taking a break from his career and just happens to be going to the same college.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Camp Rock.

--

She stood in front of the floor length mirror, dispassionately checking her appearance. Dressed in skinny jeans and a simple t-shirt with several long necklaces the slender girl looked effortlessly stylish. Despite the fact that she didn't have even a hint of make up on her face she was gorgeous. Judging by the expression on her face, however, it didn't seem like this mattered to her in the least. Shrugging her shoulders slightly, she turned around, tossing straight brown hair over her shoulder as she did so. "Mitchie, sweetie, are you almost ready? We have a long drive ahead of us."

Mitchie Torres smiled ruefully as she turned around to face her mother, "Yeah Mom, I'm almost done. Let me just look around and make sure I didn't forget anything."

As her mother closed the door quietly, Mitchie walked to her night stand and grabbed her cell phone, sticking it into her pocket. Giving the room a cursory glance she froze when she noticed the bit of yellow poking out from under her mattress. Mitchie bit her lip before straightening her back, erasing any hint of the shock and vulnerability that she'd displayed just seconds before, and walked over to pull the yellow book from under her mattress, folding it and tucking it into her back pocket, as she used to do. Standing at the doorway she looked over the room she'd lived in for practically her whole life and slowly turned around and closed the door. She paused and pulled the yellow book out of her pocket, barely giving it a glance before putting it into her purse and walking down the stairs.

--

"We're here, Mitchie! What do you think? Are you excited?"

Plastering on a fake smile for her parents Mitchie nodded, saying, "Yeah, of course! I can't wait to get started… It's so weird to think that I'm actually going to college. It seems like just yesterday that I…"

Her voice trailed off and she pretended not to notice when her parents looked at each other, worry clear on their faces. Injecting some more energy in her words she said brightly, "Well we better get started! I think we all know that I have a lot of stuff that needs to be moved in."

Her parents gave her skeptical looks but, thankfully, decided not to say anything. Mitchie let out a sigh of relief and grabbed one of the boxes stacked in the van. As she ducked to get out of the door she bumped into someone, causing her to gasp and immediately apologize, "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry I wasn't looking. I just couldn't really see over the edge of the box."

When the person she bumped into laughed she started to sigh in relief until she realized how familiar the laugh was. Her eyes widened when the voice clinched it, "Don't worry about it! I'm totally fine, I shouldn't have been standing so close to an open door. I was just trying to take in the whole effect of Berklee and I wasn't paying attention. And I should really shut up. I'm…"

Mitchie finally got over her surprise and said the girl's name softly. "Caitlyn."

Caitlyn paused, looking confused. She dropped the hand she was holding out for Mitchie to shake. "Uhmm yeah. Caitlyn Gellar. How did you… Mitchie Torres?! Oh my god… Is it really you? I haven't talked to you in forever, much less seen you! How have you been? Wait… are you going to Berklee too??"

Mitchie smiled, getting caught up in Caitlyn's enthusiasm. A bright, genuine smile lit up her whole face. Her parents, who were standing off to the side during the whole exchange, looked at each other, identical smiles on their faces. It had been years since Mitchie had smiled like that. "I should've guessed that you would be here at Berklee too! Wow this is so cool! This better mean that we'll be hanging out. I can't believe we didn't keep in touch better."

Caitlyn laughed and nodded, "Same here! I kept meaning to call but then I'd forget or I'd get busy. I promise not to let that happen again though! Especially since we're going to be so close to each other. God. I'm so glad you're here too Mitchie! I'll have to admit I was a little scared to be going off to college all by myself. It's nice to have a friend."

"I know what you mean. I was panicking a little too. So where are you staying?"

Caitlyn looked down at the slip of paper she was holding in her hand and rattled off a dorm name and a room number. Mitchie stared at her, "You've got to be kidding me."

She put the boxes down and pulled a folded paper out of her pocket, handing it to Caitlyn. Caitlyn unfolded it, a confused expression on her face. Mitchie laughed when Caitlyn's jaw dropped as she read the paper. "You're my room mate?!"

--

"Okay sweetie, that's the last of your stuff."

Connie Torres set the last of the boxes on the floor. Straightening her back, she stepped back and took a long look around the room, her eyes settling on the bare mattress. Unwilling to leave her daughter yet, she walked over to the suitcase resting next to the bed and opened it quickly, pulling the sheets out. She stood up and smiled ruefully when she saw Mitchie suppressing a smile. She rolled her eyes and said, "I know, I know. Mother hen. Last thing, I promise."

Mitchie smiled but didn't say anything else, simply walking over to the bed to help her mother. Connie sighed when the task was done, turning to face Mitchie. "Alright then… I guess that's it? We should get going… It's a long drive home."

Mitchie stepped closer to her mother and hugged her tightly, closing her eyes and breathing in the familiar scent of her mother's perfume mixed with whatever spices she had used that day and, of course, the slightest hint of smoke from the grill. Finally she stepped back and launched herself at her dad, hugging him just as fiercely, blinking back tears when he kissed her gently on the top of her head.

When she got back to the room after walking her parents to the car, she found Caitlyn sitting cross-legged on her own bed, looking through one of the brochures that had been left on their desks. Caitlyn looked up when she walked in, a smile on her face, "Hey Mitchie! Have you read all of these?"

Mitchie shook her head, "Nahh. I haven't really had time yet I guess. I mean I did some research before I applied but I didn't really look at all the details. Why?"

Caitlyn patted the spot next to her, saying, "There are some pretty cool things that I didn't know about!"

Mitchie kicked her sandals off and settled on the bed next to the excited girl, her voice holding a hint of laughter as she asked, "Really now. Like what?"

Caitlyn laughed, smiling at Mitchie, "Oh come on! I know you're excited about college too! At least a little bit right?"

Mitchie shrugged, saying casually, "A little…" Caitlyn shot her a disbelieving look, causing her to roll her eyes and grin, "Okay a lot! Alright Cait. Spill it! What got you so excited?"

"Well I mean… a lot of things! I was reading about the random lectures that we can go to on top of our classes. It seems like as far as their topic is concerned, anything goes as long as it's related to music! But I'm most excited about this… Did you read about how there's going to be concerts at the end of every semester?"

"You mean bands will come here and perform?"

Caitlyn shook her head, "No. Us students! I think everyone's required to perform at least once a year. There's a bunch of different concerts for each of the major groups of music and then the final day is a huge free for all concert. It's going to be so cool! Like Final Jam all over…"

Her voice trailed off as she realized what she'd just said. She cast a worried glance at Mitchie, frowning when Mitchie closed her eyes, trying to mask the pain that was written all over her face. The memory, and the pain that came with it, would always be fresh in her mind. Caitlyn bit her lip, berating herself for bringing the subject up. It was a night she had never forgotten either.

--

"Cait… even if we can't perform in Final Jam, we can still watch right?"

Caitlyn gave her a wry smile and shrugged, "Sure. Brown never said we couldn't. Do you really want to though?"

Mitchie laughed softly, "Of course. This summer was supposed to be all about music. Yeah it sucks that we can't perform, but that doesn't mean I like music any less! It'll be fun. You know you don't want to miss Tess and her lemmings, much less Lola, Barron and Sander."

Caitlyn smiled and nodded, "You're right. Let's go!"

Linking their arms together they ran over to the hall, slipping in right at the beginning of Hasta La Vista. They watched the performance, their smiles growing wider as the song progressed. Clapping and cheering at the end, Caitlyn looked at Mitchie and said laughingly, "Classic Barron and Sander."

Mitchie opened her mouth to reply but closed it when Brown started talking.

"And next up we have Tess Tyler!"

Mitchie caught Caitlyn's attention and rolled her eyes, causing the two of them to dissolve in suppressed laughter. When the first notes began coming out of the speakers, however, Mitchie froze, her eyes widening. Caitlyn, noticing her friend's reaction, stopped laughing as well and tilted her head, paying more attention to the music. She frowned but it wasn't until Tess began singing that her eyes widened.

_I've always been the kind of girl that hid my face _

_So afraid to tell the world what I've got to say _

If Caitlyn hadn't been so worried about Mitchie she would've laughed out loud. Tess Tyler, hiding her face? Tess Tyler, afraid to say what was on her mind? Seriously. As if. But the shock on Mitchie's face caused her to hold her tongue as she started pondering why Tess would steal Mitchie's song. It was when her gaze fell on the judging table, and saw the surprised look on Shane's face, that everything finally clicked into place. Mitchie was the 'Girl with the Voice.' And Tess… jealous, conniving Tess, had somehow figured that out, even though neither Shane nor Mitchie knew.

_That_ was what the whole bracelet incident was about. Tess wanted to make sure that Mitchie wouldn't perform her song because then Shane would've known that the girl he was looking for the whole four weeks of camp was the girl he'd already started liking. And that would've meant that Tess would lose. So she'd gone a step further and decided to steal the song, hoping that she could fool Shane and replace Mitchie. Caitlyn glanced at Mitchie and winced when she saw the blank expression on her friend's face. "Can we get out of here?"

Caitlyn nodded and grabbed Mitchie by the elbow, carefully steering her out, but not before shooting another glance at Shane and wondering why the expression on his face was more confused than delighted.

--

"Mitchie! Our schedules are online!! What classes do you have?"

Caitlyn ran over to Mitchie, practically bouncing from excitement. Mitchie laughed at her enthusiasm, shaking her head slightly. "Actually I totally forgot that our schedules were being posted today. I haven't checked yet. Give me a second."

"How could you forget? We're going to be taking these classes for the next couple of months. How could you not want to check on them the second they went online?"

Mitchie just laughed, quickly logging into her account and clicking on 'Schedule.'

"Uhmmm… let's see. I have Essentials of Songwriting, Jazz/Rock Improvisation for Guitar, English and…"

Her voice trailed off as she looked at the small typed words, marveling over how five simple words could cause her such a panic. Caitlyn frowned, asking, "What? What else do you have?"

When Mitchie merely stared at the screen, Caitlyn leaned over and looked at the computer screen. "Advanced Technique of Voice Production. Wow! That's awesome. They must've seen how good you are to let you skip so many classes. I mean, I knew you were good enough but they might not… what's the matter?"

She trailed off when she noticed that her friend's reaction was not one of joy but one of panic. Mitchie looked up at Caitlyn and sighed. Finally she said, "I haven't sung for three years."

Caitlyn's jaw dropped and she asked incredulously, "Wait what?! Uhmmm don't take this the wrong way or anything but… why are you here?"

Mitchie laughed, a little bit of her panic dissolving. "I'm here for guitar and piano." She took a deep breath and continued, "I… didn't feel comfortable singing after Camp Rock. But I mean… there's no way I could give up music. So I focused on guitar and piano. I still compose, but don't write lyrics that often anymore. And when I do it's usually for a friend or something and I never sing them."

She shot Caitlyn a bright fake smile and shrugged a little. Caitlyn's lips tightened as she bit back her instinctive reply, instead saying softly, "Mitchie she's not worth it."

Mitchie smiled sadly, "I know but it's not just because of Tess, Cait. It was the whole summer."

She looked up slowly, not sure that she wouldn't fall apart if she saw the slightest hint of pity in Caitlyn. She needn't have worried. Caitlyn's expression was unfathomable as she started talking, "Mitchie you have one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard and it's not like I've been stuck in the middle of nowhere my whole life. You are really really good and it was stupid of you to let anything stop you from doing something you used to enjoy so much. Yes, what happened at that summer sucked for you, to put it plainly, but I can't believe that you would stop singing. And it's not even just the singing. I've only been around you a couple of days but I can already tell you've changed so much and I don't like the girl you are now. Get over yourself Mitchie. Stop letting yourself wallow in the past. Tess Tyler isn't worth it. Shane Gray isn't worth it either. Come find me when you're ready to be yourself again."

By the end, Caitlyn's contempt was clear, both in her eyes and in her voice. Casting Mitchie one more disdainful look, she spun around and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Mitchie stared at the closed door. What the hell had just happened?

--

A/N: Hope you guys enjoy this! I haven't written fan fiction in about a year… I've never stopped reading though, and recently got into CR. There're lots of wonderful CR stories around but I've been reading them so much I can't find too many more to read! Lol. So I decided to try and write something as well. Not that I'm saying this will be wonderful. I have to warn you that I'm going off to college so I don't know how often this will be updated. But I'll try my best! Please review and let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Camp Rock.

--

She stood outside the door, taking a deep breath and trying to muster up the courage to grab the handle. Caitlyn's scornful eyes flashed in her mind, causing her to laugh self-deprecatingly. Mentally berating herself for being such a coward—it was just a class!—she grabbed the handle and pulled the door open.

Stepping inside the classroom, she was relieved to see that no heads turned in her direction. The few people in the class were too engrossed in their own conversations. She lifted an eyebrow when she saw the seating choice. All of the guys were on the right side of the room while all the girls were on the left side. Making her way to the left side, she took a seat next to the wall.

Mitchie pulled her bag into her lap, rummaging through it until her hands closed around a bound book. She took it out of the bag and set it on the desk, reaching into one of the smaller pockets and pulling out a pencil. Opening the book, she flipped through it until she found the page she was looking for. It was a composition book, with musical staffs instead of regular lines. Looking down at the page that held the first few measures of the song she'd started to write after her… talk… with Caitlyn, she pursed her lips thoughtfully. Then, smiling slightly, she began scribbling down a few lyrics.

An excited murmur ran through the classroom, causing her to stop writing and look up, her curiosity piqued. Someone had just entered the room but the cluster of people around whoever it was effectively kept Mitchie from seeing anything. Snatches of the whispered conversations being held around her drifted to her ears.

"…even hotter in person…"

"Ohmigod… can't believe…"

"Is my make up okay?"

"Hot Tunes said…"

"Didn't think he'd actually be here…"

"Wonder if the rest of them…"

"Check my teeth for me?"

"Heard rumors but…"

"…here for how long?"

"Can I borrow your mirror?"

Mitchie raised an eyebrow. Sounded like there was a celebrity here. And a "hot" guy celebrity if the reactions of the girls in the class were anything to go by. If she still watched Hot Tunes she'd probably know who it was, but she hadn't watched Hot Tunes since Camp Rock. She rolled her eyes at herself, already knowing what Caitlyn's reaction to that would be. There wasn't any celebrity she particularly wanted to meet but she was still curious as to who it was. Putting her pencil down, she leaned forward in her seat, craning her neck and trying to see through the gaps in the tight cluster.

She needn't have bothered.

"Sorry guys. Would it be okay if I sat down? Class is about to start and the professor probably isn't going to be too pleased if we're all just standing around. Don't worry. I'm going to be in this class the whole semester so I _will_ get around to signing something for everyone."

The pencil in her hand clattered to the floor, causing the students around her to give her a puzzled look before turning their attention back to _him_. There was no mistaking that voice. His face popped into her thoughts, eyes filled with pain and betrayal. Her chest tightened and she practically started hyperventilating, her breaths coming in short gasps. Closing her eyes and forcing herself to calm down, she tried to block out her thoughts and the memories rushing at her. By the time she'd started breathing normally again she was feeling resigned.

She should have known. Of course Shane was here, at Berklee, with all the best musicians in the country. She'd heard some rumors about him deciding to take a break and go to a college but she'd never given it much thought. And Sierra knew better than to talk about Shane around her. Sierra had no idea what had happened the summer she'd been at Camp Rock but she knew that nothing was more guaranteed to get Mitchie to shut down and stop talking for the rest of the day than talking about Shane Gray or anything to do with him.

She watched as the people around him sighed and grumbled a little before sitting back down in their seats, some of them reluctant to leave until he gave them pointed looks. Her eyes widened when she noticed he was looking around the classroom. She slid down in her seat and turned her head to the side, praying that he wouldn't recognize her. She watched him out of the corners of her eyes, carefully gauging his reaction. A small sigh escaped her lips when his eyes merely passed over her. When she realized that there had been disappointment mixed in with the overwhelming relief she frowned.

Pressing her lips together, she told herself firmly that it was ridiculous to be disappointed that he hadn't recognized her. She should be glad that he hadn't and she should try her best to stay unnoticed. Picking up the pencil she dropped earlier, she tried to turn her attention back to her writing. But she couldn't help sneaking glances at him and looking at the commotion he had caused. A disgusted snort escaped her lips when she noticed the expressions on the faces of every other girl in the class. They were all leaning forward in their seats, batting their eyelashes and smiling coyly, all but begging him to sit next to them. She couldn't suppress a small smile when she saw Shane ignore every single one of them except to give them polite smiles, choosing to sit near the wall on the boys side, pretty much as far away from the girls as he could get.

He smiled at all of the boys around him, shaking hands with all of them and introducing himself, despite the fact that there was no way they didn't know who he was. It was obvious that he had effectively dispersed the tension because a light banter was quickly started. Satisfied that he was completely engrossed in the conversation, Mitchie took the chance to study him more intently.

God he _was _even hotter than he'd been three years ago. His hair had the slightest bit of curl to it and looked effortlessly messy. She smiled slightly, sure that he'd spent a considerable amount of time making it look just right, messy enough to look casual but not too messy. He still dressed the same, pairing tight jeans with a t-shirt. When he laughed at something a boy said, his face lit up. There weren't any major changes but he looked different. Better different.

She'd never been happier to see a teacher walk into a classroom. She immediately focused on the professor, finally able to ignore Shane.

"Hello everyone. I am Professor Kirke. Since we are a relatively small class, we're going to be getting to know each other very well. In less advanced classes you have rarely had the chance to work with each other, correct? Well in my class you will all be paired with a partner who you will work with for the rest of the semester. It is important as a singer to be able to work with someone and learn to blend with them. As such I will be expecting each pair to perform at duet at the end of the semester concert."

"Now. How many of you write your own songs?"

Mitchie raised her hand, looking around to see that every single person in the class had raised their hand. Professor Kirke smiled and nodded, "I thought so. Since everyone can write their own songs, I will be requiring you to personally write your duets, instead of borrowing music from someone else. When you are writing your duet with your partner I would like you all to consider your own abilities and write something that will push you to your limits. For example, write a song that is a little out of your range. Or write a song that forces you to breathe more infrequently than you are used to."

"For the next two classes I will be listening to each of you individually and testing your various techniques. Once I have listened to everyone I will put you into your pairs. From then on you will only be meeting me while your partner is there. We'll have class once a week and you, as a pair, will meet with me twice a week, for an hour, as well. Appointments are on a first come first serve basis. I have set aside four hours on every day except Monday, when we will have our class, and Sunday, which is when_ I _get to rest."

"For the first quarter we will go over how to work what you've learned into your duets at the end of every personal session. You will then have until Thanksgiving to write your duets. I do not want to hear any part of your duets until after we get back from Thanksgiving break. As soon as we get back, however, we will work on your duets until the end of the semester. Your performance at the concert will be considered your final. Any questions?"

--

Mitchie packed her stuff into her bag slowly, wanting to make sure that she left after Shane. When she saw Shane leave she counted to sixty under her breath before leaving the classroom as well, immediately heading back to her room, barely keeping herself from running.

"Cait! You're not going to believe who's in my voice class."

Mitchie opened the door hastily, immediately making a beeline for Caitlyn, who was sitting at her desk writing. She didn't give Caitlyn time to respond before continuing her rant, "I mean honestly… as if having a voice class isn't bad enough! Of all the colleges in the world why did he have to come here? And why this year? Why not last year? Why couldn't he have been put in a different class?"

Caitlyn waited until Mitchie's frustration overwhelmed her need to rant before she asked simply, "Shane?"

Mitchie stared at her friend, "Wait what?! How did you know?"

Caitlyn smirked slightly, "He's the only one that would get that kind of reaction out of you. And not only do I listen to Hot Tunes… Nate kind of let it slip that he'd be here."

She said the last part so quickly Mitchie had to pause and sort it out. Once she did however, she stared at Caitlyn, "Wait WHAT?! You knew? Why didn't you tell me? And you kept in touch with Nate?"

A small smile curved her lips as she asked the last question. Caitlyn smiled nervously and ignored the question, choosing instead to address the first questions, hoping her friend would be distracted, "Would you really have listened to anything I said about Shane Gray?"

Mitchie opened her mouth to reply but ended up closing it. She laughed softly and said, "Fair enough."

Caitlyn refrained from smirking or saying 'I told you so.' Instead she smiled sweetly and asked, her eyes wide and innocent, "So did you guys talk?"

She almost laughed when Mitchie shot her an incredulous glance that practically screamed: Are you stupid? Mitchie rolled her eyes, "Are you kidding me? Of course not! He didn't even know I was there!"

"Why not?"

"Uhmm… cause I avoided him the best I could? It's going to be hard to stay away from him the whole semester though. Our class only has twenty people. Not that he'd probably recognize me anyways…"

Caitlyn said something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like 'you'd be surprised,' before asking, "Are you seriously going to try to stay away from him the whole semester?"

Mitchie nodded, "I'm not going to try to stay away. I AM going to stay away."

--

"Hello… Miss Torres is it?"

Mitchie smiled and nodded, "Yeah. Hi Professor Kirke."

They were in one of the many practice rooms scattered around the campus. Professor Kirke was sitting at the piano, looking up at Mitchie. "So in our sessions from now on we'll start with warm ups first but I always have the students sing part of a song the first session."

He looked up at her expectantly, waiting for her to start. Mitchie bit her lip before saying hesitantly, "Actually… I was kind of put in your class by mistake. I got into Berklee because of piano and guitar, not singing. I actually haven't sung anything in three years. I really don't think I'm good enough to be in your class."

Professor Kirke merely smiled and said, "There are rarely mistakes, just new opportunities. Why don't you sing a little and let me decide if you're 'not good enough' for my class."

Mitchie refrained from making a face and sighed instead, resigned. She bit her lip, trying to think of what song to sing. Suddenly she remembered the song she had written a few years ago but hadn't sung. Her mouth twisted into a wry smile: the song had been written for Shane. Shrugging—she'd promised herself that she would see this through—she began singing.

_Did you forget  
That I was even alive  
Did you forget  
Everything we ever had  
Did you forget  
Did you forget  
About me_

_Did you regret  
Ever standing by my side  
Did you forget  
What we were feeling inside  
Now I'm left  
To forget about us_

Her voice trailed off as she suddenly remembered where she was. She had gotten lost in the music and the memories that came with it. There was a slight look of surprise etched on her face. She had enjoyed singing. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts she looked at Professor Kirke anxiously. He was jotting down some notes on his notepad. When he finally looked up his face gave no hint of his thoughts. He merely said, "Let me test your range."

He played a typical warm up exercise and waited for Mitchie to start singing before playing along with her, moving up by half steps until she couldn't reach the notes before. Then he chose another exercise and started moving down by half steps. His face still inscrutable, he wrote for a little bit longer.

The rest of the session was similar. He tested how well she sight read, how long she could hold a note, how accurately she could sing the series of notes he played on the piano and more. After each of these tests he didn't say anything, merely taking his notepad and writing before moving on to the next test.

Mitchie shifted uneasily from foot to foot, waiting for him to finish writing after the last test. He finally set the pencil down and looked at her. He smiled, saying, "Miss Torres, I'm going to be honest with you."

Mitchie bit her lip, sure that he would say she sucked, in nicer words. "Out of all the students I've listened to so far you are one of the best. And it's not like the other students are bad. You have incredible natural talent. I find it very hard to believe that you have not sung in three years. I would be very disappointed if you decided to drop my class. I hope you will reconsider."

He looked at Mitchie, who was obviously completely shocked. He chuckled lightly and stuck out his hand, "I hope to see you on Monday then?"

Mitchie shook his hand and nodded, still a little dumbstruck. When she got to the door she turned around to face him and smiled shyly, "Thank you Professor Kirke. I didn't think I would enjoy the session today but… I really did. I missed singing."

Professor Kirke smiled back at her and said warmly, "I was merely telling the truth Miss Torres."

--

A/N: I finished this chapter Monday but I didn't want to post it until I had more of the next chapter written. This story will probably update once a week at the most frequent. Thank you very much for the reviews! They make me want to try to type faster. Actually they made me set aside packing for college so I could write some more! Hehe. So please, please review! It'll motivate me more to keep writing. I have about half of the next chapter written so I will probably be able to update again next Friday. :) Until then, I hope you enjoy this chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Camp Rock

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Camp Rock.

The first few notes of Inseparable shattered the silence, causing the curly-haired girl to smile happily, lunging for her cell phone. She snapped it open without looking at the screen—he was the only one who had that ringtone—and said lightly, "Hey! I haven't talked to you in forever!"

Her smile grew bigger when she heard his familiar chuckle, "Hey Caity. Someone's excited. Did you miss me?"

Not even waiting for an answer he continued, his tone playfully arrogant, "Of course you did. Who wouldn't miss me? I'm Nate Black of Connect 3."

Caitlyn rolled her eyes, though she was still smiling. She said, her voice dry, "Yes, of course. I missed you terribly, oh light of my world."

Laughing, she teased, "Seriously Nate! When did you turn into pre-Camp Rock Shane?"

Nate huffed in annoyance. Even though he was not in front of her she knew him well enough to know that he was pouting and crossing his arms petulantly. "Fine! Be sarcastic. See if I tell you what I called to tell you."

Caitlyn grinned and cajoled, "Awww come on Nate. You know I'm not kidding completely! I did miss you. What have you been up to? I can't remember the last time you called."

"Yeah… sorry about that Caity. I was busy getting ready for something."

Caitlyn made a face, even though she knew he could not see her, and asked, her voice betraying some of her hurt despite her efforts to keep it at bay, "Too busy to call me?"

She heard Nate sigh guiltily and reply, "Well… and I wanted to surprise you!"

Raising an eyebrow, she asked skeptically, "Surprise me? Surprise me how? This better be a good surprise… good enough to make up for you not calling for more than a week. Not calling would be bad enough but you didn't even pick up when I…"

A loud knock on the door interrupted her, causing her pause, shooting a curious look at the door. She tilted her head, wondering who it could be, as she and Mitchie rarely got visitors. As she walked over to the door, pulling it open without checking to see who it was, she said, "Hey Nate, hold on for a bit… someone's at the…"

She trailed off, speechless, when she saw who was at the door. Nate Black, youngest member of Connect 3, took off his sunglasses and smiled at her, asking teasingly, "So Miss Gellar, is this a good enough surprise?"

Seeing that Caitlyn was still in shock, he held his arms out and asked, "What? I don't even get a hug?"

He grinned when Caitlyn stepped towards him, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "I missed you Caity."

Caitlyn pulled back and hit him lightly on the arm, glaring. "Why did coming to visit warrant so much preparation? How did you not have time to pick up my calls?"

She crossed her arms, looking at him challengingly. Nate laughed and replied, "You're right. Coming to visit wouldn't warrant so much preparation. But I'm not just visiting. I'm going to be staying at Berklee."

He smiled smugly when Caitlyn's jaw dropped, "What?!"

"Well I already told you that Shane was coming to Berklee right? It was Shane's idea first. He wanted to take a break to go back to school. So Jason and I decided that we might as well join him. I mean… it's not like we could be Connect 3 without Shane. And we all wanted to take some more music classes so we decided to come to Berklee. I didn't call you recently because I knew I'd want to tell you immediately and I really did want to surprise you. Besides it was a lot of work getting everything together. I'm rooming with Jason and Shane has a single, but we kind of move around a lot, especially since we're right next to each other. Actually our dorm is right next door, so I'll come visit you often… so who's your roommate?"

Caitlyn laughed and replied, "You'll never guess. I almost want to wait until you're drinking something so I can watch you spit it out when I tell you. As long as I'm not in front of you, of course. Funny thing is I didn't even know she was coming here. It was a total coincidence that we were put together."

Nate rolled his eyes, "Come on Caity. Just tell me!"

"Caitlyn! Guess what Professor Kirke…"

Nate turned around to face Mitchie. She had just burst into the room, the wide smile on her face reminding Caitlyn of the old Mitchie. When she saw Nate she froze, the smile dropping from her face the second she recognized him. Her eyes widened with panic before she managed to control her emotions. Remembering her manners, she smiled at him, a guarded smile filled with wariness, with none of the happiness of her smile just seconds earlier, "Uhmm… hi Nate."

Bemused, Caitlyn watched Nate's reaction. He tilted his head to the side and studied Mitchie unabashedly as he tried to place her face. While he was not surprised that she knew who he was, he had a feeling that he knew who she was too. Caitlyn knew the second he placed her, as his eyes widened drastically and his jaw practically dropped. He whipped around to face Caitlyn, his surprise clear on his face, "Are you kidding me? Shane is going to freak out."

Mitchie jumped in hastily, "You can't tell him Nate! I would really rather not talk to him or have any contact with him. It'd be so much easier if he didn't know I was here."

Caitlyn rolled her eyes at that, "Seriously, Mitchie? You're in the same voice class as he is! Do you honestly think you can keep him from recognizing you for very long? Maybe if it wasn't an advanced class, but your class only has 20 people in it! I give you a week, tops, before he figures it out."

Nate looked back at Mitchie, his eyebrows raised so high they disappeared under his curly bangs, "You're in the same voice class as he is? Are there any MORE coincidences I should know about?"

Then he paused, realizing he had never greeted her properly, "Oops. Sorry I'm being so rude. Hey Mitchie. It's nice to see you again!"

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, causing her to smile slightly and say quickly, "Don't worry about it Nate. I'm kind of surprised you recognized me, really. I don't think we were ever introduced properly."

Nate smiled back at her, "Maybe not, but Caity talked about you all the time. And Shane…"

He didn't finish the sentence, turning back to Caitlyn instead and asking lightly, "So do you girls want to grab some dinner in the cafeteria with me? My treat!"

Caitlyn laughed, shaking her head, "Awwww that's so sweet of you Nate. It's okay. I can swipe my own card."

Nate grinned at her and said innocently, "Oh, that's right! I forgot that we're all on the dining plan."

He hid his smile when Caitlyn rolled her eyes and replied, "Uh huh… Of course. I totally believe you. If that's so then you won't mind promising to take us to dinner off campus some night. And I'm not talking McDonald's."

Nate laughed and nodded, "Alright Caity. It's a deal. You, me and Mitchie some weekend. You and Mitchie can decide where you want to go. I'm fine with anywhere. For now… let's head over to the dining hall. I'm getting really hungry!"

Mitchie bit her lip and spoke up hesitantly, "Uhmmm… why don't you two go… I'm not really hungry yet and I'm sure you two have some catching up to do."

Caitlyn shook her head adamantly, "Uh uhh. You're not getting out of this one. Come on Mitchie. Live a little! Be more social!"

She linked her left arm through Nate's right arm and grabbed Mitchie's wrist with her right hand, dragging both of them along.

--

"I have decided on your pairings. I wanted to make sure that you would be paired with a partner who best fit you. Not only will your partner sound the best with you, they will also be able to push you to develop more. You each have different strengths and weakness. Where one of you needs some work, the other is strong and will be able to help. So first up we have Mr. Branner working with Ms. Chang. Mr. Farrow is paired with Ms. Clark. I decided to pair Mr. Gray with…"

Professor Kirke paused, a small smile on his face. He had seen the faces of the girls he had called fall when they realized they were not going to be paired with Shane. He also didn't fail to notice that every single girl in the classroom was leaning forward, waiting anxiously to hear who was going to be working with Shane. Except for Mitchie Torres. He suppressed the urge to laugh and said lightly, "Mr. Gray is paired with Miss Torres."

Shane's head jerked up, eyes wide with surprise. Forcing himself to calm down, he told himself that there had to be a lot of people with the last name Torres in the world. He couldn't, however, shake the feeling that it was who he thought it was. Turning his head slowly, he looked over the girls in his class. He could easily pick out which ones were not his partner by the jealous looks on their faces. His breath caught in his chest as his eyes encountered familiar brown eyes, filled with uncertainty. It really was her.

Mitchie felt like her heart stopped when Professor Kirke said her name. Her grip on her pencil tightened until her knuckles turned white. The girls around her whirled to glare at her, their jealousy clear in their eyes, but she didn't pay any attention to them, turning to look at Shane face to face for the first time in three years. Her heart beating furiously in her chest, she had to keep herself from closing her eyes or turning her head to avoid his gaze. She could tell that he was feeling echoes of the emotions he had felt after the Beach Jam because they were etched clearly on his face: surprise; resentment; betrayal; and, above all, hurt. She saw him whisper her name so softly she didn't think even the boys next to him had heard.

She heard Professor Kirke clear his throat and turned, glad to tear her eyes away from his, "Well all of you now know who your partner is. There are fifteen minutes left in class and I'd like you to go talk to your partner. Introduce yourselves if you don't already know each other and decide when you will meet with me. Give me your top five choices and I will draw up a schedule that I will email all of you tonight."

He rolled his eyes when no one moved. "Come on people. This is not rocket science. You have to sit next to each other to talk. If no one's going to move I'll assign you areas to sit."

After a little grumbling everyone got up and moved to meet their partner. Mitchie stood up and took a deep breath, steeling herself for the walk to Shane. One foot in front of the other… that's all she had to do. She kept her gaze trained on her feet, not wanted to look up and see him. She gasped slightly when she saw a pair of shoes mere inches in front of hers. Looking up slowly, she saw Shane standing in front of her, every emotion wiped from his face. Motioning to the seats they were standing next to, he waited for her to sit before he sat as well.

Shane looked at her as she sat there, carefully avoiding his gaze. She was gorgeous. While she had been pretty when he'd first met her, she had matured and become completely stunning. She had a different air around her, however. He had remembered her smiling every few minutes at Camp Rock. He quickly pushed back the flash of pain he felt over the memory of Camp Rock. It had been three years ago. It was time he got over it. He swallowed the resentment that had come flooding in with the pain and said quietly, "Hey Mitchie. Long time no see."

Mitchie looked up and smiled awkwardly at him, a smile miles different from the one he remembered. She started talking a little hesitantly before her manner turned brisk and matter of fact, "Hey Shane… yeah. Long time no see. So… what classes are you taking and when are they? We need to decide when to meet with Professor Kirke. I guess we should write down what each other's schedules are so that we know when we can practice too."

Shane grinned, forgetting her lie for a moment and acting like he used to around her, "Geez, Mitchie! Wanting to stalk me already? Next you're going to be asking for my cell phone number!"

"Don't forget to exchange cell phone numbers so you can reach each other at any time!"

Mitchie and Shane looked at each other and burst out laughing, completely forgetting about the tension that had been palpable only seconds earlier. Mitchie smiled the smile that had been burned into his memory three years ago, still laughing, "Well it's a good thing you got me as your partner and not one of those screaming girls who admire you so much. You'd never hear the end of them!"

Shane grinned at her response. He had remembered how fun she was to be around, but he had forgotten exactly how much. There were so few people he had allowed close and Nate and Jason were just not the same. He lifted an eyebrow, "Is that jealousy I hear? You're glad you're my partner because otherwise I would've had to spend a lot of time with another girl. You don't have to pretend…"

He trailed off on the word, the smiles on both of their faces fading away. Mitchie shifted uncomfortably in her seat and looked away, biting her lip. Shane sighed and said softly, "Hey Mitchie… let's start over okay? It was… a long time ago. I thought about it a lot and I can understand why you did it. And it's not like you lied to my face… you just didn't correct me."

He stuck out his hand and said, a smirk starting to curve his lips, "I'm Shane Gray, international superstar."

He watched Mitchie, waiting to see how she reacted. His smirk started to die when she just kept staring at his hand, not making a move to take it. When he was about to drop his hand, feeling foolish, she took it and said in a deadpan voice, "You mean popstar right? I'm Mitchie Torres, just your average American girl."

Shane grinned and pulled out his cell phone, handing it to her to program her number in. She took her cell phone out of her purse and handed it to him. Shane finished first and waited for her to finish before giving her cell phone back. She looked down at the screen and rolled her eyes when she saw the name he had given himself. Superstar. She started pressing some buttons, causing him to lean over and try to see what she was doing. She merely turned so that her body blocked his view. When she finished she held out her phone for him to see, grinning as she did so. He tried to look angry when he saw the screen but he couldn't keep the smile from his face when he saw his number under the name Popstar. He opened his mouth to say something but the clock struck twelve, interrupting him.

Mitchie jumped slightly, startled that the fifteen minutes had passed so quickly. She snapped her phone shut and put it back in her bag, gathering all her notebook into her bag as well. She was standing up to leave when she paused and turned around to look at Shane. "Uhmm… I'm going to have lunch with two of my friends… would you like to come?"

--

A/N: I just completely changed my story! LOL. I meant to have Shane and Mitchie uneasy with each other longer but they're just too much fun to write. I couldn't do it! I stole Nate's last name from Bree, aka DevilPup, who is a FANTASTIC CR writer. I'll probably be using her last name for Jason as well… Jason Bishop. I was going to write about the Mitchie and Naitlyn dinner but the chapter was already long enough. This was actually finished an hour after I posted the last chapter but I was having a block on the next chapter (and still am) so I decided to wait to post and then I just totally ran out of time to post. Hope you enjoy this! Please review! It makes me happy. Haha.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Camp Rock.

---

"So who are we meeting up with? Not any screaming fan girls, I hope?"

Shane turned his head to look at Mitchie as he talked. They were walking side by side, him carrying her backpack for her. He had surprised her by grabbing it as soon as he'd gotten near, refusing to let her carry it herself. He grinned at her indignant expression and cut her off before she could answer. "Oh wait. Silly question. I should've known better. Of course we're not meeting up with any screaming fan girls."

He waited until the indignation on her face died down before adding lightly, managing to keep his face straight, "You wouldn't introduce me to girls who would fall all over me… you'd be too jealous!"

He was laughing too hard to dodge when she smacked him on the shoulder. "Jerk!"

"I don't hear you denying it!"

Seeing that she was about to hit him again he took a step away from her and said quickly, "Seriously though… who are we meeting up with?"

Dropping her hand, Mitchie just smiled and replied, "You'll like them. I promise."

Shane made a face, whining, "Come on Mitchie! Just tell me!"

Laughing, she shook her head and pushed the door of the café open. A smile lit her face when she saw Caitlyn and Nate wave at her. She looked back over her shoulder at Shane and pointed at Nate and Caitlyn, "There they are."

Then she stepped aside so that she was no longer blocking Shane from Nate and Caitlyn and vice versa. She barely bit back her laughter at their reactions. Nate, who had just taken a sip of his drink before she stepped aside, spit it out, sputtering in surprise. Caitlyn seemed to be torn between shock and laughter. When she noticed Nate's reaction, laughter won out. Shane, on the other hand, spun to face her, his eyes wide, "You're having lunch with Nate?!?"

Mitchie laughed at him, reaching over to pat him on the shoulder. "Keep up, popstar! We're having lunch with Nate and Caitlyn. Cait's my roommate."

She inclined her head at Caitlyn, who was still laughing as she helped Nate wipe up his drink. Smiling at the confusion still evident on Shane's face, Mitchie grabbed his hand instinctively, not even realizing that she had done so, and started walking to the table Caitlyn and Nate were sitting at. Shane barely spared a glance at her hand in his and simply followed her.

They stopped in front of the table, looking down at Caitlyn and Nate. Mitchie smiled, "Hey Caitlyn. Hey Nate. I asked Shane if he wanted to have lunch with us and he said yes. You two don't mind do you?"

Nate, finally over the shock, nodded and waved at the chairs across from him, "Of course not. Hey Shane… I haven't seen you in all of two or three hours."

Shane grinned as he gently removed his hand from Mitchie's, reaching to pull her chair out for her before sitting down himself. Turning his attention back at Nate he replied, "Well I just couldn't stand being away from you any longer Nate."

Nate rolled his eyes at his friend's remark, "Uh huh. Nice. Hey so where's Jase? Is he eating by himself?"

"Oh crap. I really don't know. He's probably off trying to find a place to make a birdhouse or something… should we call him? He'll probably forget to eat otherwise."

Nate nodded, pulling out his cell phone. Pausing, he turned to Mitchie and Caitlyn, who had been looking on, amused at the exchange between the two band mates, and asked, "You girls don't mind do you?"

Exchanging glances, the two of them smiled and shook their heads. Giving them both a grateful smile, Nate pressed a few buttons, calling Jason. Caitlyn took advantage of this distraction, turning to Mitchie and raising an eyebrow, "So… what happened to not just trying but actually doing?"

Mitchie squirmed slightly, a light blush tinting her cheeks. "Yeah… I didn't last very long, huh? It's not my fault! Professor Kirke was NOT helpful at all. Everyone in our class was paired up with a partner. Each group is going to be working on a duet together to perform at the end of the semester. Guess who I got paired with."

Mitchie shot her friend a dirty look when she burst out laughing, attracting the attention of both Shane and Nate. "Uhmmm… what's so funny?"

Caitlyn stopped laughing long enough to turn to Nate and gasp out, "Mitchie's paired with Shane for the rest of the semester. They have to write a duet together and perform it at the end of the semester concert!"

Shane frowned when Nate also started laughing. Nate, noticing Shane's frown, grinned and said, "Oh come on Shane… What are the odds? You two come to the same college, are put in the exact same class, AND you're paired together? It's like there's some greater force at work or something."

He turned to Mitchie and said solemnly, his eyes dancing with laughter, "I'm sorry Mitchie. Looks like you're stuck with this guy. I know I don't need to tell you how arrogant he is. Not to mention how crazy he is about his hair. And how much he…"

Shane cut him off, rolling his eyes, "Enough Nate. It's not like I don't have dirt on you. Remember that time in Chicago when…"

He grinned and stopped talking when Nate looked panicked and said quickly, "Okay, okay. I get the point. Hey. Is that Jase?"

Shane, Mitchie and Caitlyn rolled their eyes at the transparency of his actions but turned to the door anyways. Sure enough, Jason was walking in, clearly excited. Once he spotted the four of them he ran over, a wide smile on his face. Without even pausing he pulled Caitlyn up and hugged her tightly before running around the table to do the same to Mitchie. Then he pulled a chair to the end between Shane and Nate and sat down, leaving Mitchie and Caitlyn with shocked expressions on their faces. Neither of them had been particularly close to Jason.

Shane and Nate took one look at the expressions on the girls' faces and started laughing. Jason tilted his head, a confused expression on his face, "What's wrong? Why are you guys laughing?"

Shane and Nate shook their heads and said in unison, obviously used to the circumstances, "Don't worry about it Jason."

---

Shane listened as Mitchie sang, his eyes narrowed as he watched her. He frowned slightly, trying to place her voice. It sounded so familiar, yet he didn't know where he would have heard it before, even at Camp Rock. She had performed at Camp Rock but only as a backup singer to Tess. He was concentrating so hard he didn't realize that Mitchie had stopped singing and was instead looking at him until she laughed uneasily and asked, "What is it? Am I that bad?"

Shane's eyes widened slightly and he laughed, "Oh. Sorry about that. No, not at all! You're amazing. I didn't know you were that good. Uhm… not that I thought you were bad. Cause I didn't. Really."

Mitchie rolled her eyes and cut in, "Shane. Calm down. Don't worry about it. You're not insulting me."

Shane gave her a wry smile before continuing, "You have one of the prettiest voices I've ever heard. And I didn't expect that. I expected you to be good. I mean, you got into Camp Rock and Berklee. But that's besides the point. It's just that your voice sounded really familiar but I can't figure out why… I don't think I ever heard you sing at Camp Rock, except as back up to Tess."

An emotion flickered across her face at the mention of Tess, but it was gone too quickly for him to place it. She smiled brightly, distracting him, "You're going crazy pop star. Do you use that line on all the girls you hear sing? Like Sleeping Beauty right? I've heard your voice in my dreams before?"

She watched him, eyes dancing with mischief. Shane rolled his eyes and replied, his face straight, "Yes, Mitchie. That's my trademark pickup line. I don't know how you couldn't fall for it. Honestly. The least you could do is let me finish it before interrupting!"

Laughing, Mitchie widened her eyes, "But what would the fun in that be? You could get any of your fan girls to do that. You know you love that I don't let you get away with all the stuff they let you get away with."

Shane opened his mouth to reply before a soft cough interrupted him. He looked decidedly ashamed when he and Mitchie turned to face Professor Kirke. Blushing slightly, Mitchie said, "Sorry Professor Kirke!"

To their relief Professor Kirke merely laughed and said lightly, "Seems like you two know each other pretty well. That means that you shouldn't have a problem with the duet or blending. Much as I enjoy listening to your banter I should really have Shane sing now."

He started playing the intro to another song, smiling slightly when Shane opened his mouth and began to sing. A small smile curved Mitchie's lips as Shane's voice filled the room, wrapping around her.

---

"Hey Mitchie, what are your plans for tonight?"

Shane looked at Mitchie, twirling his keys around his finger. Their session with Professor Kirke had just ended and they were still in the practice room, packing their stuff up. Mitchie looked up, a puzzled expression on her face. "Uhm… I was planning on grabbing dinner? Other than that, not much. Why?"

Shane shrugged, "Well I'm in the mood for something other than dorm food. I know, I know. Spoiled rock star right? It's not that the dorm food is bad. I just want to have something else. So I think I'm going to go off campus. Want to come with?"

He grinned when Mitchie smiled widely, lighting up her face, "Yeah! I'd love to. When do you want to go?"

Shane glanced at his cell phone, "How about I pick you up in two hours? Is six okay? We'll probably get around to eating at around seven… that isn't too late is it?"

Mitchie smiled and shook her head, "That sounds perfect."

She ignored the way her heart sped up at the thought of eating dinner together, alone… almost like a date. She pushed that thought firmly back and smiled up at him, no trace of her thoughts on her face, "You going back to your room?"

When Shane smiled and nodded, she looped an arm through his and said brightly, "Cool! I hate walking by myself. Now I have my very own pop star to keep me company."

Shane scowled playfully and said, "Hey! That's rock star to you. I don't know if I want to walk with a girl that doesn't fully appreciate how incredible I am."

Mitchie simply rolled her eyes and laughed, "Whatever. You're only offended because you know it's true!"

She merely laughed at the glare he sent her way, the happy sound causing a smile to chase away the glare on his face. He laughed along with her, rolling his eyes over how hard it was to pretend that he was mad at her.

---

"Wait. Let me get this straight. You two are going to dinner together. Alone. Off campus. And he's picking you up and driving you there."

Mitchie continued putting on her makeup, carefully curling her eyelashes and brushing mascara over them. "Uh huh."

Caitlyn looked ready to burst at Mitchie's obliviousness. She shook her head before a wickedly teasing smile curved her lips. "What happened to avoiding him? I wouldn't call going on a date with him avoiding him!"

She raised an eyebrow and waited for her friend's response. Mitchie didn't disappoint. She stifled a laugh when Mitchie stopped in the middle of applying eye shadow to glare at her. "We worked that out. And it's not a date!"

Caitlyn rolled her eyes at Mitchie's reply. "Mitchie… If it's not a date why did you shower the minute you got back? Why did you braid your hair so it's in waves? Why have you been spending the last hour and a half getting ready? Why did it take you forever to decide on an outfit? Why are you putting on make up?"

She grinned when a blush spread over Mitchie's cheeks. Mitchie stammered for a while, trying to come up with an excuse. The best she could do, however, was, "We're just friends!"

A loud knock on the door caused Mitchie to spin around, panic clear on her face. "Tell him I'm not ready yet!"

Caitlyn laughed and merely grabbed Mitchie's hand, dragging her over to the door, "You look gorgeous Mitch. Calm down. I thought it wasn't a date."

Mitchie glared at Caitlyn again and said, "I hope you realize I'm going to get you back for this!"

Caitlyn just laughed, reaching to open the door and smile at Shane, "Hey Shane! Don't bring her back too late! Have fun!"

Pushing Mitchie outside, she slammed the door shut behind her. Laughing softly to herself, Caitlyn pulled out her cell phone to call Nate. On the other side of the door Mitchie looked down at her feet, avoiding Shane's eyes. "Uhmm… hi."

She heard his familiar chuckle and suddenly realized how silly she was acting. Shaking her head at her behavior she lifted her head and smiled at Shane. She stepped closer to him, asking brightly, "So! Where're we going for dinner?"

Shane laughed and shook his head, "I'm not telling you! That would totally ruin the surprise. You look beautiful, by the way."

Mitchie blushed slightly at the compliment and said softly, "You clean up pretty well yourself."

Shane smiled and held out his arm to her, waiting for her to take it. Mitchie gave him a slightly startled look but placed her hand on his arm, a soft smile playing at her lips. She tilted her head towards the door, asking, "Shall we?"

---

A/N: My deepest apologies! I realize it's been a really long time since I've updated. And I HATE when other authors do that so I'm even sorrier that I'm one of them. I have most of the next chapter written. Actually I wrote that before I wrote this. It was the scene at lunch that I wasn't sure when to end. Anyhow. Hope you enjoy! I'll try my best to update in a more timely fashion.


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